CARPE DIEM: GOZO’S OVER-70 PRIESTS URGED TO SEIZE THE DAY
By Weekender
A couple of days ago at the Marsalforn Rectory, a gathering was held for priests aged over 70. Fr René Camilleri, coordinator of the chaplaincy team at Mater Dei Hospital, addressed the group on the ancient Roman injunction “Carpe Diem” (meaning, “seize the day”). Drawing on his rich experiences ministering to the sick and dying, he encouraged his fellow clergymen to keep the flame of passion burning brightly in both their personal lives and their ongoing ministry.
As Gozo’s Catholic clergy continues to grey, priests aged over 70 are being gently reminded that a little Horace, and a great deal of faith, can transform their remaining years.
The island’s Catholic tradition rests heavily on the shoulders of its older shepherds. According to Church statistics, nearly one in three active priests is now past retirement age. Many continue to celebrate daily Mass, hear confessions and visit the sick long after contemporaries have hung up their cassocks. Yet for some, the rhythm of duty has become a treadmill of quiet exhaustion.
Far from hedonism, the carpe diem philosophy, when viewed through a Maltese Catholic lens, simply means living the present moment with grateful attention. As someone put it, “We spend decades planning for the future. A point arrives when the Lord asks us to notice the flowers He has already planted.”
The reasons are both practical and spiritual. Health concerns multiply after 70; arthritis, failing eyesight and fatigue are common. Dwelling on what cannot be done any longer risks overshadowing what still can. A quiet walk at dawn, an extra five minutes chatting with a fellow elderly parishioner after rosary or teaching a grandchild of a former altar boy how to serve at the altar, these small acts, seized deliberately, bring disproportionate joy.
Moreover, younger Gozitans increasingly seek authentic witnesses rather than administrators. An older priest who visibly enjoys his breviary, laughs at Sunday lunch with his parish’s youth group, or tends the tomatoes in his field on the village outskirts offers a powerful sermon without saying a word. In an island where family and faith remain intertwined, the sight of a silver-haired cleric fully alive can reassure a generation tempted to drift.
The message is not retirement, but reorientation. Gozo’s older priests have already given their lives in service. Carpe diem simply invites them to enjoy the gift they have been given, one precious, unrepeatable day at a time. As the psalmist reminds us: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”